dvalin 21
divination The act or practice of predicting
the future, particularly through a ritual or ceremony.
The ancient Norse people held strong beliefs in the
ability of some people, animals, and objects to foretell
the future. They sought omens and warnings from
sacred horses, performed ceremonies full of chants
(known as Galdrar) and singing and led by a seeress
to learn what would happen in battle, and studied the
arrangement of twigs to learn of their fates. Divina-
tion was closely connected with the magical art form
known as Seid. P oetic E dda , and retold by Snorri Sturluson in
G ylfaginning .
dragon A mythical beast, usually represented
as a large, winged, fire-breathing reptile similar to
a crocodile or a serpent. In Norse mythology the
dragon Nithog feeds on the root of the World Tree,
Yggdrasil. In Norse and Germanic legend, from
which Norse mythology evolved, the dragon Fafnir
guards his ill-gotten treasure and is eventually slain
by the hero Sigurd. D urinn (1)
D raupnir (Dropper)
The golden ring or arm
ring made for the great god Odin by the dwarfs
Eitri and Brokk. Every ninth night, eight other rings
dropped from Draupnir, each as heavy and bright as
the first.
In the story “Frey and Gerda” (see under Frey),
Gerda was not tempted by the ring. In “Balder’s
Funeral” (see Balder), Odin placed Draupnir on
the funeral pyre; it was then returned to him by
Hermod, the messenger god who had gone to
the underworld to try to bring Balder back to the
living.
See “Treasures of the Dwarfs” under Loki.
D romi
The second of three chains with which
the gods tried to bind the dangerous wolf Fenrir.
Though stronger than the first chain (Laeding),
this ordinary metal chain could not hold tight the
powerful and evil wolf. Only the magical third rope,
Gleipner, successfully secured Fenrir until the time
of Ragnarok, the conflict that brought an end to the
world of the gods.
D uneyr One of the four deer that live within the
limbs of the World Tree, Yggdrasil, gnawing at its
leaves and branches and reaching the highest leaves
by stretching their necks. The other three are Dain
(3), Dvalin (3), and Durathror. They are found in
the story of Yggdrasil told in G rimnismal , part of the
D urathror
One of the four deer that live
within the limbs of the World Tree, Yggdrasil,
gnawing at its leaves and branches and reaching the
highest leaves by stretching their necks. The other
three are Duneyer, Dain (3), and Dvalin (3). They
are found in the story of Yggdrasil told in G rimnis -
mal , part of the P oetic E dda , and retold by Snorri
Sturluson in G ylfaginning .
The second of the dwarfs created
by the Aesir from the maggots that oozed from the
body of the first giant, Ymir, at creation. The first
dwarf created was Motsognir. One day, after they
had created their individual worlds from the proto-
giant’s body, the gods were at work creating objects
and creatures to place in their realms. They paused
in the process, sat and thought, and then decided to
make dwarfs and make them resemble humans. So
the gods transformed a maggot into Motsognir, and
after that they made Durinn.
Together, these two dwarfs themselves created
many more dwarfs, all in the likeness of man. The
story is told in the V oluspa , part of the P oetic E dda .
In G ylfaginning , Snorri Sturluson gives Durinn
credit for telling this story.
D urinn (2) One of the two dwarfs who crafted
the great sword Tyrfing. The other was Dvalin (2).
The dwarfs were forced to make the sword for a
powerful king and, in revenge, they put a curse upon
it. The story of that curse in the lives of the sword’s
owners forms the center of an Icelandic heroic
legend. It is told most completely in the manuscripts
of the H ervarar S aga .
D valin (1) (D walin )
A dwarf who, with his
brothers Alfrigg, Berling, and Grerr, fashioned the
golden Brisinga men necklace coveted by the god-
dess Freya. They are part of the story that begins The
Tale of Hogni and Hedinn, which is also known as the
S orla T hattr . When the goddess Freya d